Freezer package rack and improved arrangements thereof



E. J. BUZICKY Fil'ed Aug. 22. 1955 FREEZER PACKAGE RACK AND IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS THEREbF' INVENT OR ATTORNEY United Stag p H H 7 2,891,833 7 I I FREEZER PACKAGE RACKANDIMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS THEREOF Edmund LBuzic'ky, St."Paul,"Minn. ',"a'ssignor by mesne assignments,'to Whirlpool Corporation, a"'c'orporation of Delaware Application-August 22,1955, seam... 529,631 S'Clhinis. -(ci'. sa -304 This invention relates to an improvemmu ltiple posi- "tioningand'sliding basket arrangement and freezer package rack in and for freezer storage cabinets. More particularly the improvement concerns an .opensided bas- "ket'r'ack or shelvingprovidedin the preferredform' with a tilted bottom portion and lslidably mounted 'within' a freezer cabinet for slidably'resting'another' basket thereon'in' side by side' relationship. 7

Spacers, dividers, and shelf arrangements are" conventional for various enclosures. However,'.in freezer cabinets it is'usually'the' practice to move andshift various objects about in order to get'at the'desired objects'or materials. In such shifting, the"unwanted objects"are generally stacked to one sideorfrom'shelf to shelf each time an object at the back'or 'the'bottom of'theboxis desired. Therei'stherefore required afmore' convenient space saving 'she'lving arran'gementand structure which permits readyaccess to various portions of'the'iboX and 'to the shelving. v I

Accordingly itis' 'an object ofthis'improvement in freezer cabinet=shelving .to. provide. an economical and convenient labor,'time and space saving removable and sliding shelf arrangement which is movable back and forth in the cabinet aperture.

7 'Another T object of this improvement in freezer. cabinet sh'el'ving is to provide a movablerack giving. access from-the top and sidethereof forin'gress aiid egress of the contents contained therein. i g

Anadditional object of this:improvement;'in gfefriger'ator shelving is to provide a removable basket shelving with a labor, time and space saving arrangement for additional removable and sliding basket shelving.

A further object is to provide a sliding and removable freezer chest basket open at the top and sides and having a bottom sloping rearwardly on a plane tangential to the normal horizontal and vertical planes of the freezer chest lining.

Additional objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an open freezer chest with the door removed showing the improved basket arrangement.

Fig. 2 is a side view of my improved basket shelf structure. I Fig. 3 is a cross section view through line 3-3 of .Fig. 2.

Inasmuch as the construction of freezer chests or cabi- "nets are well known the details thereof are not shown or described other than the border molding which conentionally surrounds the opening aperture to the freezer chest and a conventional divider wall or wall spacer 11 spacing off one end of the chest structure. Otherwise the numeral 11 may represent a rod insert adjacent the cabinet aperture between the relative opposite freezer chest side walls (not shown) which serves to support the basket shelving, in the manner as hereinafter described.

The preferred embodiment of the basket shelving is fsomewliat less in'width than half thewidthfof the freezer 'aperture'and' is m'ountedto dependinto the freezer cabinet and slide transversely "of the"lon'gitudinal length of the horizontal c'abinet aperture. 'In' this embodiment the basket shelving is a wireframe structure A formed with offset bottom frame side wires'or'slender'steel bars 14 and '15 and parallel aligned top'fram'e side wires 'or slender steel bars 16'a'nd17 with'e'nd frame member supports.

'The end frame, supports 'for'the basket'frame sides 14 and 16 are'integral upri'ght l egs 18 Sand 19and'for the frame sides 15 and 117 the relatively longer integralupright legs '20and 21." Thelegs'18 and 20 'attheir top ends are bent back and down 'to provide a pair of par- "allel aligned hooks 23"and 24, respectively. The hooks 23 and '24 are a'd'apted'ito engagezthetop. edgeiof support '11 and slide back and forth thereover. "The'legs19 the:abovefdescriptionhhat a straight'slen'der steel rod forms, by proper behding,"the continuous. siding includ- A center rein-forcing wire orslendersteel rod'29 is frame side 14. The jupperiframe side16I is spot welded between the upright leg ends 18 and '19, and the upper frame side 17 is spot welded between the upright leg "ends '20 and 21.

. The balance of. the basket. shelving is provided'with a back closure Wall and a bottom by. spotwelding a plurality of light, right 'a'ngularly bent, wires'30 to the frame sides '14, 15 and'17. As more'clearly illustrated in' Figure 3 taken in conjunction with Figure'jZfthe' base 31 'of 'ang'ular wire 30; is 1 s'ecurediat' itsfront end by spot weldingto the frame"side'*14,' spot 'we'lding its -angular bend of slightly less than to the frame side "15"a'nd and spot welding its opposite upstanding end 32 to the top frame side 17. The difference between the length of frame legs 18 and 19 and frame legs 20 and 21 is preferably slightly greater or substantially double the diameter of the frame side portions 14 and 15. This shorter length of the relative front legs 18 and 19 raises the front ends of bottom shelf wires 31, attached to basket shelf rim 14, and the longer length of the relative back legs 20 and 21 lower the back side of the shelf wires 31 to give the shelf or basket bottom a slight incline or backward tilt. While any number of right angular wires 34) may be used to aid in holding frozen commodities and reinforce and strengthen the shelving structure, these wires are preferably widely spaced with a number of intermediate bottom frame wires 34 spot welded in a backwardly sloping relation between frame sides 14 and 15. The wires 34 serve to fill the spacing between wires 31. A centered cross wire 35 is spot welded to the shelf wires 31 and 34 as reinforcement therefor and to aid in closing the shelf bottom. With the bottom section having a slight rearward incline, goods positioned thereon either from the top of the basket frame or from the open side, between top rim 16 and bottom rim, 14, do not tilt, tip or slide therefrom upon sliding the depending shelving back and forth upon its end supports, as described.

When the basket shelf A is seated upon the support 11 and end molding it}, as shown in Figure 1, a second wire basket B which is of conventional character, illustrated only by the modified conventional upper rim 36 is also mounted in the freezer cabinet aperture to depend in sliding relationship to the basket shelving A and the cabinet molding 11. The ends 37 and 38 of the basket rim 36 are provided with conventional lifting handles 39 and 49, respectively. Each of the sides 41 and 42 of rim 36 have the legs of elongated U-shaped wires or slender steel bars 43 and 44 spot welded thereto. Thus with the basket shelving A pushed back or forwardly {not shown) the bars 43 and 44 slidably support basket B upon either of the basket frame rims and molding 1t) permitting movement longitudinally of the cabinet aperture.

It will thus be recognized that by the provision of a basket shelving structure which is relatively more narrow in width and slidable transversely of the freezer cabinet apertures affords a great savings in time and labor with reduction of operating costs. With such basket shelving occupying only a portion of the aperture in the freezing cabinet a further basket element used in conjunction therewith to move or slide longitudinally of the aperture provides for increased time and labor saving in moving or removing top packaged articles or commodities and also improves upon refrigeration efiiciency with reduced cost of operation.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my freezer package rack and improved arrangements thereof, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In combination a freezer cabinet having a sliding shelving arrangement therein, said cabinet having a horizontal door aperture, a molding about said aperture and a space divider wall in said freezer cabinet, said sliding shelving comprising a multiple basket arrangement mounted on and supported by said molding about said door aperture and said wall, said freezer cabinet having a 1ongitudinal axis and one of said multiple baskets sliding transversely of said longitudinal axis of said freezer cabinet between said wall and over one edge of said molding, and another basket insert sliding longitudinally of said freezer cabinet axis over another edge of said molding and over an upper longitudinal rim edge of said one basket.

2. In combination, a chest type freezer cabinet, said cabinet being of generally rectangular shape, a first basket slidably supported within said cabinet for movement toward and away from two parallel walls of said cabinet, and a second basket slidably supported for movement toward and away from the other two parallel cabinet walls, said second basket having one edge slidably supported on one of the two first named parallel walls and having an opposite edge slidably supported upon said first basket.

3. In combination, a generally rectangular chest type freezer cabinet having parallel front and rear walls and parallel end walls. a first shelf member slidably supported within said cabinet for movement forwardly and rearwardly between said front and rear walls, and a second shelf member slidably supported for endwise movement between said end walls, said second shelf member being generally rectangular in plan and having one edge slidably supported on one of said first named parallel walls and having an opposite edge slidably supported on said first shelf member.

4. In combination, a generally rectangular chest type freezer cabinet having parallel front and rear walls and parallel end walls, a partition wall connecting said front and rear walls parallel to said end walls, a first basket of generally rectangular form having one side slidably supported on one of said end walls and having a parallel side slidably supported upon said partition wall, whereby said first basket may be moved forwardly and rearwardly, a second basket of generally rectangular shape having one side slidably supported upon said first basket and having a parallel side slidably supported upon cne of said first named parallel cabinet walls, whereby said second basket is movable toward and away from said one end wall and said partition wall.

5. The structure of claim 4 and in which the first basket includes a bottom which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly toward the rear wall of the cabinet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,089,359 Goulooze Aug. 10, 1937 2,155,284 Steenstrup Apr. 18, 1939 2,615,592 Swedman Oct. 28, 1952 2,635,779 Pfeiifer Apr. 21, 1953 2,639,035 Pearlstein May 19, 1953 2,675,289 Whitmore Apr. 13, 1954 

